Tuesday, 24 January 2017

Like a pink wave from one country to another, millions marched through the streets around the world last week, to mark the protest of rising feminine power which has been suppressed for many decades. Thriive got chatty with Ilona, an international author, and co-founder of Living From Vision, about the imbalance between feminine and masculine energies today.

Why do we accept male domination as “normal”?

Although I was born in Afghanistan in a Muslim country, I was born to German parents. Since my father passed away, my mother decided to study again and became a New Age mother way ahead of her time. She modeled for me being both polarities united into one singular person. Strong and innovative, creative and intuitive, kind and sensitive.

So, in my own world, my mother showed me that being a woman means to be every aspect of the entire spectrum. I believe that nature created 2 different sexes in order to have the division of labor. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, because why would you have 2 Mars or 2 Venuses all in one place?

Is there a constructive plan to raising our feminine power in all fields of our lives?

Honoring both sexes, with their differences, different strengths and their different weaknesses is the balanced approach. Neither can function on their own completely.

Is this finally time for matriarchy? If so, how do we overcome the leftover domination of male energy from our system?

This would need both the male and female in order to produce effectively. We need both, the male energy of more logical thinking, and the feminine energy of more sensitivity to complement each other. One without the other would tilt the world out of balance.

I am not saying that the world is completely out of balance currently, but swinging into the other polarity of matriarchy is not the answer either.

How is the divine feminine different from the divine masculine energy?

The divine being, whether he or she is feminine or masculine is a being that is centered in the divine, in the singularity. This is a being no longer driven by the ego it needs, but will offer its abilities for the enhancement of the greater whole. In a divine feminine or masculine being, the polarity does not completely disappear, however it is more androgynous. This being carries both aspects-the masculine and feminine traits.

If there is a divine masculine energy, how is that different from the patriarchal forces in the society?

The patriarchal system is setup to keep the ruling energy in male hands. The divine masculine offers his particular strength into the service of the whole as it is in perfect balance and honor of the divine feminine.

How can men bring out this energy balance within themselves?

By focusing on the divine core essence within themselves, both men and women can empower their pure consciousness more effectively. They start radiating from their supreme soul diamond rather than from personal legal position

How can we, as women, help our fathers / brothers / boyfriends / husbands / teachers / employers bring out that balance in their lives?

By being balanced in ourselves, by identifying with our SOUL, beyond being identified as either male or female we can be the counterpart that we wish to find in the other. By shining purely the light of consciousness, and connecting with the other moves us out of the identification of being more male or female in our expressions.

What would the impact of this rising of the feminine energy on the world as a whole?

I would prefer to place the attention on the rising of spiritual consciousness rather than masculine or feminine expressions. Although I love being a female expression of consciousness this time around, I also remember other lifetimes where I was a male. We all switch back and forth and learn from all expressions. On that journey around the cycle of the zodiac, switching between male and female incarnations, sometimes expressing more masculinity in our feminine embodiment and sometimes expressing more femininity in our masculine embodiment, we are neither 100% feminine or 100% masculine ever.

How can women bring out their own feminine energy more confidently and use it to the best of their evolution and growth?

Being in touch both with the logical as well as the intuitive part of ourselves as a woman, we become a balanced being. Placing our attention into the singular focal point, the divine, the seat of our soul will be the higher expression of ourselves as a human being.

What is the spiritual significance of the rising of this feminine energy?

When we are more enlightened, more identified with being purified consciousness, we will radiate a greater amount of light and love through our heart. Both men and women will become greater expressions of divine, and therefore be radiating increased light into our world. This will guide us in our everyday choices. Each of us have an innate feeling of what it feels like to be alive. For some people that maybe an extroverted form of expressing their feminine nature and for some, it maybe an introverted form of expressing this nature.

How is the rising of feminine energy in the world today an analogy for the rising of Gaia mother Earth’s cry for help - are they connected in any way?

The metaphor of seeing Gaia as a mother represents our current cry for allowing the feminine to have a voice. But who is to say that the earth is the mother and sun is the father? Are not both part of creation? Both can give life and both can destroy. It is about time we start testifying with being a spiritual being.

In our cycle of evolution we will travel through being males and females. Who is to say that we were not some of the oppressive patriarchal males in recent lifetime or dim past distant lifetime? All expressions of being embodied allow us to learn the lesson to become the next greater awakened soul.

Friday, 20 January 2017

“Our mind is always seeking something and is comfortable when there are thousand things to do. But what happens when there is nothing to occupy the mind? You contemplate. And that’s what I did over 12 years living in different monasteries. Whether in a desert or on top of a mountain, the choice was mine to have these retreat periods in the initial years of my thirst for answers. I was on my own. While cooking, walking, meditating, or reading, I had to connect to my inner self.” When his voice met these words, they sparkled with a touch of calmness. Chris G Mayya, the author of “Discover your free mind” is a mindfulness coach who shed some light on this practice.

When the inner contemplation begins

Face aglow like the last rays of orange when twilight beckons the twinkling stars, he spoke of what happens when the inner contemplation takes place. “You don’t actively contemplate on life but the process of meditation brings you automatically to a stage where you sit down with certain questions, take them deeper, read some books, get some insights and as you make mediation the foundation of your contemplation, you start understanding your own life.

He moved a little from his seat, constantly bearing the semblance of smile, just enough to tell that he was enjoying the thoughts striking his mind at this moment. But maybe that’s the result of spending years in monasteries. Do we all need to, to have the same effect on others like he does? He definitely didn’t think so. “I feel discovering different aspects of spirituality at so many monasteries has definitely been worth it. If you don’t have a quest for a heavy bank balance, there are these experiences to make you richer. But you don’t necessarily need to go through the whole process like I did.”

Misconceptions about mindfulness

Maybe this could be one of the misconceptions about mindfulness like many others he spoke of when we confused mindfulness with meditation. He stayed quiet for a while as if allowing himself to stay in the question. His voice, vibrant yet relaxed spoke further, “The fundamental misconception about the practice is that mindfulness and meditation are the same. In the west especially, it happened until people realised that it is a revolution of mindfulness which is changing the world. Another misconception is that mindfulness is where you focus and bring the change with a certain amount of control, pause, slowing down like mindful drinking and eating. However, even if you are talking to someone, you can still have a kind of passive awareness. That is mindfulness.”

“The third misconception is that because it’s been integrated so much into the corporate world, and education system to change things, people think it is a self-improvement technique. But I think if someone is not motivated enough to work, and if he or she is suggested to do the program without rectifying the underlying patterns such as first addressing the problems in the company, it would be of no use. Another misconception is that if you have rituals, only then mindfulness is complete.”

Science behind mindfulness

His cardamom tea had long gone cold, though much later than he must have expected. Like a screenplay in an invisible space, his thoughts rapidly turning into words also explained the scientific reason behind how mindfulness works, “Mindfulness is the study on which the most number of scientific research has been done. Compared to every other form of psychological study, this proves to be the most effective in all the psychosomatic conditions such as depression, addiction, anxiety, etc. The result of meditation is still pseudoscientific and they are not much documented. But by far, mindfulness is the only tool people can use for themselves.”

What makes it different?

“Whatever your immediate challenge in life maybe, over the course of six weeks, it could be changed completely. Be it health, relationships,or anything else, this would able to change your fundamental beliefs which are limiting you. Underlying belief patterns are not easy to change, so you would have a better understanding of them, and you would be able to catch what’s coming next the next time you are suppressed by those beliefs and you would able to fundamentally change those.”